Eli Kao

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March 9, 2007 - 11:23amLEFT: Jessica Durrum, Assoc. Director, Centro Presente & Eli Kao, CCTV Membership Coordinator
Making connections with a variety of community organizations and exploring opportunities to provide media training in Cambridge is an ongoing process for CCTV. To get a sense for what kinds of needs exist among community organizations and their members, a good first step might be an informal "communications & media use" inventory for each entity. Centro Presente is a well-established multi-services center that needs to communicate with both its membership and the public at large, and also provides education and training. What methods and media does Centro Presente use to stay in contact with people? What kind of technology training needs do its members have?
I spoke recently with Associate Director Jessica Durrum about Centro Presente, its members, and how it uses various forms of media. I was impressed by their membership numbers and by how their community organizing work is integrated with their service provision. Communications with constituents are based around the oldest medium of all- word-of-mouth, but also include a lot of print material and a weekly AM radio show. The web...read more

March 8, 2007 - 4:49pmA video by Amy Mertl on painter/sculpter Rachel Mello and her work, which she calls "playing with a bistable percept". Her work will be on display at the CCTV Drive-By-Gallery from February 13th to March 27th. Features music by Calame. Enjoy!
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February 12, 2007 - 12:45pmIn the internet age, the paper-and-staples, DIY zine scene is a breath of fresh air. (Or is it air that seems fresh now but was previously breathed? Anyway...) The Papercut Zine Library in Harvard Sq. offers an amazing collection of these under-the-radar goodies. This video was originally produced by Birgit Werner and Elisa Kreisinger for You Are Here vol.1, ep.12.
You Are Here is a half-hour video news magazine about Cambridge, MA. An all-volunteer team produces, tapes, and edits the news program, completing a new show each month. Each episode of 'You Are Here' is broadcast three times a week on Cambridge Community Television.
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February 12, 2007 - 12:32pmGlassmaking was a thriving East Cambridge business during the 19th century. The innovative New England Glass Company eventually closed its doors, and glassmaking in Cambridge is now in the hands of artisan glassblowers. This video was originally produced by Gabrielle Mondesire for You Are Here vol.1, ep.12.
You Are Here is a half-hour video news magazine about Cambridge, MA. An all-volunteer team produces, tapes, and edits the news program, completing a new show each month. Each episode of 'You Are Here' is broadcast three times a week on Cambridge Community Television.
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February 12, 2007 - 11:57amThis video by Gabrielle Mondesire looks at the historical Harvard Sq. Conductor's Building and the debate about its future. (Originally part of You Are Here vol. 1, ep. 10.)
You Are Here is a half-hour video news magazine about Cambridge, MA. An all-volunteer team produces, tapes, and edits the news program, completing a new show each month. Each episode of 'You Are Here' is broadcast three times a week on Cambridge Community Television.
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February 11, 2007 - 7:32pmI thought I saw Cassette hanging with Morrissey while shopping for Member's Only jackets at the Garment District and humming Karma Chameleon... but then again I might have imagined it. Here they perform "Premature Baby" during their appearance on Bandwidth TV episode VIII.
Check out myspace.com/cassette and myspace.com/bandwidth for more.
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February 11, 2007 - 6:32pmTunnel of Love will rokkk you and sexxx you up. Enjoy this clip from their appearance on episode VII of CCTV's Bandwidth TV.
Check out their Myspace page and Bandwidth's Myspace for more funnn.
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February 10, 2007 - 11:00amA digital story featuring photographer Susan Fleischmann, who's upcoming show will be at the CCTV Drive-By Gallery from January 2nd - February 13th 2007. Includes some archive footage from archive.org and creative commons liscensed music by Michael Renkema.
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February 1, 2007 - 6:32pmWhen regular-sized digits just won't do, dynamic duo and nuclear fusion reactor Big Digits bring the noise and the crunk. They performed "Business Card Song" during their appearance on CCTV's BandwidthTV. Check out the video here, and visit bigdigits.com and myspace.com/bandwidth for more fun.
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January 30, 2007 - 6:39pmLEFT: Screenshot from AliveinBaghdad.org
Using commonly available tools and building an international team of correspondents by word-of-mouth, Brian Conley is forging a new brand of global journalism, where the priority is on giving cameras and microphones to the people living the stories.
I recently talked with Brian about Alive in Baghdad and his broader goals.
AliveinBaghdad.org is the flagship "bureau", and presents a new video from Iraq each week. Each video is shot by Iraqi correspondents and edited by a stateside team. The episodes are then distributed via the AIB website (or, in this case, "vlog"), as well as through blip.tv, iTunes, Democracy player, or any other video-capable RSS reader. These new modes of distribution have helped Alive in Baghdad reach approximately 10,000 viewers per month with each video. The stories covered represent a wide spectrum of Iraqi society, from an upper-class college grad playing video games at home, to a Palestinian-Iraqi detained at Abu Ghraib, to the mother of a man who died battling American and Iraqi troops, who says that even if given another chance, she wouldn't stop him from going to fight. The voices of artists and politicians,...read more

January 19, 2007 - 3:55pmLEFT: Aerial view of Newtowne Court, site of CPI mesh networking pilot
(This article is an update to the preceding one.)
I met with Cambridge CIO Mary Hart yesterday and got an update on the status of the Cambridge Public Internet (CPI) project. The main revision that I would make to my previous article would be to say that the current activities of the CPI, involving free wifi access through mesh networking, will not be the final word on wireless internet in the City. The City is not interested in building and managing a citywide wifi network, and is planning to choose a private vendor to provide more comprehensive wireless internet services.
Leaving the big picture aside for the moment, the current hot item is that the Newtowne Court buildings (on Main and Windsor in Cambridge) have a mesh network that is live and Hart estimates that there is 90% wifi coverage for the complex. There will be a presentation for residents this coming Monday, January 22. If you live in or next to Newtowne Court, fire up that wifi-enabled computing device and log in to the wifi network named "Cambridge Public Internet". Hart emphasizes that this is an "experiment", and the City is pursuing such...read more

January 16, 2007 - 6:37pmRecently, I had to check email on the go. I was walking down Broadway St. in Cambridge, and I had my laptop with me. I sat down on the street corner, fired it up, and was online in a flash without paying a cent. How geekily liberating.
The idea of free wireless internet access in Cambridge is exciting, but a large-scale deployment isn’t here yet. When I checked my email, I wasn’t using a city wifi network, I was just “stealing” wireless from someone living nearby. The Cambridge Public Internet project, a municipal "mesh" network, may soon provide a way for me to be an honest mobile netizen. The convenience of on-the-go access is not the primary goal of the project, however, it's just a useful side effect. The focus of the initiative is on minimizing the digital divide.
Cambridge’s Information Technology Department, working with other city departments, MIT, Harvard, and the Museum of Science, intends “to blanket Cambridge with free basic-level wireless access”, according to a recent city newsletter. So, how’s that going? A survey by MuniWireless.com released at the end of 2006 lists the status of municipal wireless in Cambridge as “deploying”. The City’s website says there's a “...read more

December 28, 2006 - 5:47pmAlthough it hasn't seemed much like a real New England winter yet, there's still plenty of time left for both snow and the flu. In this piece, You Are Here news correspondent Birgit Werner finds out what Cambridge does to prepare for flu season.
You Are Here is a half-hour video news magazine about Cambridge, MA. An all-volunteer team produces, tapes, and edits the news program, completing a new show each month. Each episode of 'You Are Here' is broadcast three times a week on Cambridge Community Television (CCTV channels 9 and 10).
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December 19, 2006 - 6:42pmWe’re working actively to make CCTV’s website more dynamic and your participation and feedback is key. There are already many ways that you can participate and there will be more in the future. The best way to get started is to visit our website and sign up for a free account!
You need to be a registered user to take advantage of most site features. It’s quick and easy, all you need is a valid email address. Just go to www.cctvcambridge.org and on the left side, below the “Log in” button, click on “Create new account” and follow the instructions.
Read on for more fun things to try, and email ocd@cctvcambridge.org with any comments or questions.
Here are some other ways to take advantage of CCTV website features-
Share your perspective on what you see. Once registered, you can sign in and post comments to news articles and videos.
Start a blog! Community members are encouraged to use the blog feature. If you’re a CCTV producer, a blog is a great way to write about your videos. Login and on the left, under your username, click “Create content” and then “Blog entry”.
Create a discussion group! Whether you’re working on a video project that you want to discuss with other crew members...read more

December 18, 2006 - 5:23pmArtist and illustrator Karl Stevens is the creator of the graphic series Whatever for the Boston Phoenix, among other things. His self-published graphic novel Guilty recently won a coveted Xeric award. In this video, You Are Here news correspondent Jamie O'Brien interviews the man behind the pen.
You Are Here is a half-hour video news magazine about Cambridge, MA. An all-volunteer team produces, tapes, and edits the news program, completing a new show each month. Each episode of 'You Are Here' is broadcast three times a week on Cambridge Community Television (CCTV channels 9 and 10).
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December 16, 2006 - 9:26pmInterviewed by Eli Kao, Membership Coordinator
EK: Tell me a little about yourself and how you first got involved at CCTV.
BW: I am originally from Germany and came to the US about 4 years ago to go to graduate school in neuroscience. About three years ago I moved to Cambridge. I was living right around the corner from CCTV, so I was walking by almost every day. I had never heard of public access TV so I was curious what it was all about. One day I saw a sign about a new member orientation in the window, so I decided to check it out and became a member. For the first year I took a couple of classes, but otherwise didn't do very much until I signed up for a news production class, which got me involved in the "You are here" newsgroup.
Click "read more" below for the rest of the interview, and be sure to visit youareherenews.org to learn more about this exciting project.
EK: Had you worked with video before?
BW: Only a little bit, I had done some multimedia productions for which I had also filmed little video clips.
EK: What was your first CCTV video about and how did it go?
BW: My first CCTV video was my project in this CCTV news class I mentioned before. In the first session, Ken...read more

November 20, 2006 - 1:57pmAlegrías, by Jenny Alexander, features a flamenco performance by dancer La Conja, guitarist Juanito Pascual, and cajón player Gonzalo Grau. Alegrías was featured at the 2006 Boston Latino International Film Festival and has played on CCTV's channels.
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November 16, 2006 - 4:11pmGeotagging Media to Map Communities
The whole concept of "geotagging" registered on my radar in late 2005. I can remember the first few websites that I saw using geotags. One was probably Yahoo! Local or something similar, but I didn't yet realize that a map of neighborhood stores and eateries was part of a larger phenomenon. Slightly cooler was housingmaps.com, a "mashup" feeding craigslist housing listings into Google Maps. Very useful, but somewhat prosaic. Another was part of The Freesound Project, a collection of user-submitted field recordings, and this was much more of a revelation. The recordings were geotagged media with a documentary component. It began to dawn on me how powerful that combination could be. Cambridge Community Television explores some of this potential with their upcoming ZipDocs seminar, in which students at CCTV will make a "video map" featuring the Cambridge zip codes.
In the last year geotagging media has been widely adopted by both large sites and DIYers. The quality of available tools and number of geotagging sites has likewise increased (some examples below). Yet, despite the number of projects out there, I still haven't seen rich media maps that...read more